IN STOCK — BANDCAMP — SPOTIFY
Members of Dowager have long since cut their teeth in the burgeoning Portland underground music scene, performing in now iconic post-hardcore bands like Our First Brains and Strange Ranger. Despite those acts being no strangers to abrasive and experimental composition, the formation of Dowager marked a distinct shift in style and tone for the group. Recorded at the acclaimed Atomic Garden Studio with Jack Shirley in East Palo Alto, Title Track is five cuts of shifting and brooding post-hardcore, melding a hefty number of influences and styles that combine to make an unpredictable beast all its own.
Title Track opens with vicious intent. Gutterflower kicks things off with a potent combination of screamo and math rock, alternating between a full-on aural assault and comparatively delicate, technical passages. The approach bleeds through into Fingerguns, although this track hits critical mass as it approaches its finale. Sleep Paralysis and Model Home maintain a ferocious post-hardcore approach until the closing track, Coastal, which transitions seamlessly into a mellower arpeggiated, math-rock bridge and finally comes to rest with a tender, midwest emo-inspired outro.
This is a relentless and unique five-track extended play that combines the fury of hardcore, the creativity of post-punk, and the complexity of math rock. While it might sound like an unlikely ménage à trois to some, fans of the modern strain of European screamo pioneered by Italian acts like Daïtro, Shizune, and Raein may find Title Track almost deceptively accessible. Discordant, yet melodic, vicious and tender, Title Track is a mess of contradictions. But that's precisely what makes it so damn fun.
| "Portland post-hardcore band Dowager recorded their EP Title Track at Atomic Studio with Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Happy Diving), so you won’t be surprised to learn that their track “Sleep Paralysis” is as intense as the title suggests. The electric guitar riffs wrap around vocalist Benardo Relampagos’ screams like barbed vines before being overwhelmed by robust drums." -- Stereogum |
Released November 25, 2016
Tracked, mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley at The Atomic Garden
East Palo Alto, CA February 2016
Cover art by Benardo Relampagos
Dowager is Ben Scott, Travis King, Kevin Thrakulchavee & Benardo Relampagos